Signature Litigation welcomes Abdulali Jiwaji

Abdulali Jiwaji, who specialises in high-value financial litigation and regulatory disputes, has joined London-based Signature Litigation as a partner from Simmons & Simmons in Hong Kong.

Jiwaji formerly practiced at Hogan Lovells where he spent 10 years in the firm’s London investment banking and funds litigation practice, as well as serving a stint at Allen & Overy.

Signature Litigation’s founding partners, including senior partner Graham Huntley, all hail from Hogan Lovells originally, before they went on to set up the litigation boutique in 2012; a move made to capitalise on high-end litigation mandates outside of a full-service law firm structure.

Commenting on his move is a statement, Jiwaji said the firm operates a “unique model which I have not seen anywhere else in the legal world,” and cited it as a key attraction in his move. “It is also great to be working again with Graham Huntley who was part of the team that I worked with for many years,” he added. In common with other litigation boutiques such as Enyo Law and Humphries Kerstetter, Signature Litigation has experienced considerable demand for its banking and financial litigation services as a result of being conflicts-free. The firm reported revenue growth of 70% to GBP 8 million in the last year.

“Abdul is just the kind of first-rate lawyer and first-rate person that we want in Signature Litigation to make our co-operative structure and value systems work and prosper,” Huntley said in a statement. “He obviously adds to our capability to handle complex financial market disputes, where we are very active as a firm,” he added.

Speaking to CDR in response to the announcement, a Simmons spokesperson said: “We would like to thank [Jiwaji] for his contribution to the firm and wish him well at Signature Litigation and in all of his future endeavours.”

London firms who have recruited into this area recently include Macfarlanes, which promoted three such lawyers to partner in April, and Herbert Smith Freehills, which recruited Deutsche Bank’s Andrew Procter in March.